'I get to be there and help them'

Friday

Mar 1, 2013 at 12:01 AMMar 1, 2013 at 5:06 PM

Molly Phipps / mphipps@shelbystar.com

From the very beginning, Matt Clauss took an interest in law.

“The first case I ever tried was at the Cleveland County Courthouse when I was in eighth grade,” said Clauss, “My English class read a novel that involved a crime and, as a class project, we had a mock trial at the courthouse.”

Clauss defended the character who committed the crime and the case was his first win. It was also the only time he has ever defended anyone.

Now, Clauss, a Shelby High School graduate, works as a top felony prosecutor in the Jefferson Parish of New Orleans, La.

“I’m an assistant DA and I work in felony jury trials,” said Clauss. “In Jefferson Parish, there are different divisions of court. There is division A, all the way through division T. In each division, their prosecutor handles the cases.”

As the felony prosecutor for his division, Clauss handles felonies such as drug possession, DWI, sexual violence, murder cases and others involving physical forms of violence, as well as some misdemeanors. His work differs from week to week, depending on whether the courts are handling criminal or civil cases.

The process of trials, preparing witnesses

“It’s a really interesting practice,” Clauss said. “On a criminal week, I go in Monday and we’ll talk to the judge and figure out which case will go to trial on which day. Trials typically start on a Tuesday with jury selection. We have either six-person or 12-person juries.”

By Wednesday or Thursday, the trial will begin. On non-trial weeks, Clauss said he works on getting ready for future trials by talking to witnesses, reviewing police reports, issuing subpoenas for documents, or preparing witnesses for testifying in a trial.

“Most people haven’t testified before so it’s tough,” he said, “I think my job is to make people comfortable with the system and the process.”

Clauss said a person can be victimized twice -- once when the crime happens and second when they have to testify at the trial.

“It’s frightening getting ready for that,” said Clauss, “I spend a lot of time making it as familiar and not scary as possible.”

Finding a resolution

His job involves a great deal of communication with victims, letting them know how the case is progressing. It also involves plea bargaining.

“The majority of cases don’t go to trial," he said, "They get resolved in a plea bargain, which is just an agreement between the state and the defense to resolve in a particular way. A lot of times, there’s a good resolution to the case that makes everybody happy so the victim doesn’t have to testify.”

Clauss said it is important to reach a fair agreement that punishes the criminal, but doesn’t over-punish, while also giving the victims or family members of the victims a sense of closure.

“It’s something that’s hard to do well,” said Clauss, “But it’s important to do well.”

'Being able to help people'

Clauss said he never thought he would be a district attorney. His original plans were to work for a large law firm. But that all changed when he interned at the DA’s office in Jefferson Parish while attending Tulane Law School.

“I worked at the DA’s office in Jefferson in the felony division and just absolutely fell in love with it,” said Clauss, “I fell in love with the idea of being able to help people. At the worst time of somebody’s life, I get to be there and help them.”

His advice for anyone going to law school is to become a district attorney, because you get to help people while also being a lawyer.

“It does so much good,” he said. “If you do your job right, you get to be a part of something that is 100 percent good and valuable.”

He said he loves standing up for people and being around others who feel the same way. When a case ends, “you get to look that person in the eye and tell them that experience is over,” he said.

'I love what I do'

Clauss has covered murders that resulted from two feuding families, as well as a murder in which a victim was shot multiple times in the back with an AK-47.

“Being able to get justice for him was an amazing experience,” said Clauss.

And just a few weeks ago, he prosecuted a teenager who shot a homeless man multiple times.

Clauss said it was rewarding “being able to stand up and be a voice for somebody who his whole life didn’t have a person to stand up and be a voice for him.”

As a prosecutor, he said his job is emotionally difficult.

“If you want a jury to listen to what you have to say, you have to believe what you’re saying, too. You have to experience those feelings,” he said.

But despite being difficult, his job is worth it.

“I love what I do and I love where I work,” he said, “It’s just an amazing opportunity to do good for people. It’s like I said, very rewarding.”

Reach Molly Phipps at 704-669-3339 or mphipps@shelbystar.com.

Interesting facts about Matt Clauss:

-He loves going to hear live music in New Orleans.

-He was born in Oxford, England, when his parents, both Americans, were living there.

-He was the foreman of a criminal jury in Cleveland County the summer before his first year of law school. It was his first interaction with the criminal justice system and one of the reasons he decided to be a prosecutor.

-He lives in the Treme neighborhood in New Orleans, which is the area of the city that the HBO show "Treme" is named after.

-One week into his first year at Tulane, Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. Clauss spent several months trying to find out if friends made it out safely, where they were, and how he could help. He didn’t lose anything, but many people were not as lucky.

Want to nominate a hometown portrait?

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